ARCHIVED  February 1, 1999

Western Plains plans Windsor clinic

WINDSOR — Western Plains Health Network has purchased 8.7 acres in Windsor, where it plans to build a multipurpose medical facility.

The project, known as Windsor Medical Center, will be built in two phases and evolve over a period of several years, said WPHN spokesman Gene Haffner. Pending approval from the Windsor planning department, construction of phase one will begin this summer at the site at 13th Street and Main Street.

The announcement of plans to build a new facility follows Western Plains’ recent acquisition of Family Physicians of Windsor.

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The three-physician practice will be integrated into the network in March. WPHN will assume responsibility for practice employees, and the network will manage the practice. The physicians, Dr. Robert Bradley, Dr. Michael Carey and Dr. Keith Rangel, will remain independent practitioners.

Acquisition of the Windsor physicians’ practice occurred with the new medical center in mind, said Robert Thorn, director of marketing and communications for Western Plains Health Network.

“We’ve had a relationship with Family Physicians of Windsor and provided them with services for some time, Thorn said. “It was a natural progression to look at what else we could provide in the Windsor community.”

The three physicians and their staff will move to the new facility, and the practice will expand its services.

Construction of the medical center will come in two phases. Phase one will encompass 18,000 to 20,000 square feet of building space, Thorn said. It will house the primary-care practice and a women’s medical- and emotional-care center and accommodate an expanding presence of specialists in the community.

Phase two includes plans for outpatient services, rehabilitation services and more.

“The building will be an integrated facility, and we’ll be meeting with people in the community to assess the needs of the population,” Thorn said.

Western Plains’ announcement will not affect any plans Poudre Valley Health System will make for land it recently purchased in Windsor, said Paul Schofield, vice president of physician network services for Poudre Valley Hospital.

Last fall, PVHS purchased two parcels of land totaling 155 acres on the southeast corner of Interstate 25 and the Windsor exit, Colorado Highway 392, but the system has no immediate plans to build a facility there.

“We’ve served the Windsor community for years, and we will continue to look at how we can serve the growing population in that area and continue to expand our service area,” Schofield said.

What PVHS does with the site depends on how rapidly the area grows, he said, noting that Western Plains, of which McKee Medical Center in Loveland and North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley are a part, draws a large number of patients from downtown Windsor and the east side of town, while Fort Collins doctors are seeing more patients coming from the new developments near I-25 — developments such as Highland Hills, Eagle Ranch and Ptarmigan.

There is potential for duplication of health care services in Windsor if both entities enter that market, Schofield said, but competition is good for the customer.

Migration reports pulled from 1997 data compiled by the Colorado Hospital Association show that 827 patients with a Windsor zip code of 80550 checked into a hospital that year. Of that number, 398 went to NCMC, 335 went to PVH and 41 went to McKee. In the 80528 zip code, which encompasses Windsor’s west-side development, 52 patients checked into PVH, three went to NCMC and 14 went to McKee.

Western Plains Health Network is part of Lutheran Health Systems, a nonprofit health care network that operates 28 hospitals, 30 nursing homes and other health services in 14 states. Western Plains owns or is affiliated with 11 hospitals, half a dozen physician clinics, four nursing-home and home-care facilities, several medical-equipment and medical-staffing organizations and two psychcare/family recovery centers.

The network is also looking seriously at a land acquisition in west Greeley, because that area is experiencing such rapid growth, Haffner said.

Lutheran Health Systems is currently negotiating a merger with Samaritan Health System, another not-for-profit health care organization, which operates several facilities in Phoenix.

WINDSOR — Western Plains Health Network has purchased 8.7 acres in Windsor, where it plans to build a multipurpose medical facility.

The project, known as Windsor Medical Center, will be built in two phases and evolve over a period of several years, said WPHN spokesman Gene Haffner. Pending approval from the Windsor planning department, construction of phase one will begin this summer at the site at 13th Street and Main Street.

The announcement of plans to build a new facility follows Western Plains’ recent acquisition of Family Physicians of Windsor.

The three-physician practice will be integrated into the network in March. WPHN will…

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